Process for making seamless alloy wheel rim with reinforced outboard flange

ABSTRACT

A process for making seamless alloy wheel rim includes curving an outboard flange inwardly centripetally to be welded to a bead seat portion adjacent to the outboard flange of the wheel rim to thereby seal an annular interior confined by the inwardly curved outboard flange. The strength of the outboard flange of the wheel rim will then be reinforced.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,583 to Arthur D. Hale et al. disclosed an improved cold formed alloy wheel rim having an axially inward facing wall (53 a) of its outboard flange (46) contacted with the bead seat surface. However, such a facing wall (53 a) is not welded to outboard bead seat (54). When electroplating the wheel rim for surface treatment, the electroplating liquid will penetrate into the interior confined by the axially inwardly curved “loop”of the outboard flange (46) to cause corrosion or erosion to the wheel rim and also the car tyre to thereby possibly cause air leakage of the tyre or cause damage of the car wheel.

The present inventor has found the drawbacks of the prior art and invented the present seamless alloy wheel rim having reinforced outboard flange.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a process for making a seamless alloy wheel rim including curving of an outboard flange inwardly centripetally to be welded to a bead seat portion adjacent to the outboard flange of the wheel rim to thereby seal an annular interior confined by the inwardly curved outboard flange for reinforcing the strength of the outboard flange of the wheel rim.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a first step for deep drawing of a circular alloy plate in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a cylinder-shaped piece as formed by the die as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows the cylinder-shaped piece having its bottom portion punched out.

FIG. 4 is an illustration by turning the up side of the cylinder-shaped piece down from FIG. 3, adapted for next forming procedure.

FIG. 5 is a sectional drawing showing the forming of the wheel rim of the present invention in several molds.

FIG. 6 shows a preliminarily formed wheel rim having an outer flare portion when released from the molds of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows the outer flare portion being inwardly centripetally curved to form the outboard flange of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows the free edge portion of the outer flare portion welded to the bead seat portion of the outboard flange of the wheel rim.

FIG. 9 shows a further trimmed outboard flange and a disc secured in the wheel rim barrel in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows a first step for a second preferred embodiment of the present invention for deep drawing of a circular alloy plate for an outboard flange member of the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows a shallow cylinder-shaped piece as formed by the die as shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 shows the shallow cylinder-shaped piece having its bottom portion punched out.

FIG. 13 shows an inwardly centripetally curved outboard flange member following FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 shows the free edge portion of the outboard flange member welded to the bead seat portion of the outboard flange member.

FIG. 15 shows further trimmed outboard flange which is fastened to a pre-formed wheel rim body containg an inboard flange in combination with a disc secured therein.

FIG. 16 shows a cylinder piece adapted for forming a wheel rim in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 shows the forming of the wheel rim in several molds from the cylinder piece of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 shows a preliminarily formed wheel rim when released from the molds of FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 shows an inwardly centripetally curved outboard flange of the present invention following FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 shows the free edge portion of the outboard flange welded to the bead seat portion adjacent to the outboard flange of the wheel rim.

FIG. 21 shows further trimmed outboard flange and a disc secured in the wheel rim barrel following FIG. 20.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIGS. 1˜9, a first preferred embodiment or example for making the seamless alloy wheel rim of the present invention comprises the major steps of:

1. Forming a Cylinder-Shaped Piece by Deep Drawing (FIGS. 1˜4):

As shown in FIG. 1, a circular plate 1 p made of alloy, such as aluminum alloy, is deep drawn by a deep-drawing die D by applying pressure P on the circular plate 1 p to form a cylinder-shaped piece 1 c having a closed bottom portion 1 b and an upper peripheral potion 11 (FIG. 2) when released from a die cavity D1 (FIG. 1).

The closed bottom portion 1 b is punched out to form an opened lower peripheral portion 12 of a hollow cylinder-shaped piece 1 as shown in FIG. 3.

Since the lower peripheral portion 12 of the cylinder-shaped piece 1, after being deep drawn, may weaken or slightly weaken its strength. Therefore, the lower peripheral portion 12 may have its up side turned down or inverted from FIG. 3 to FIG. 4. Then, the lower peripheral portion 12 (or the “distal end portion” 12 after deep drawing) will be erected upright or faced upwardly to be further cold formed by the subsequent steps as hereinafter described.

2. Forming a Preliminary Wheel Rim having an Inboard Flange and an Outer Flare Portion (FIGS. 5˜6):

The cylinder-shaped piece 1 is inserted into a mold cavity within the female mold F as shown in FIG. 5. An upper male mold (or upper punch) M1 and a lower male mold (or lower punch) M2 are respectively inserted into an upper hollow portion and a lower hollow portion of the cylinder-shaped piece 1 to cold form a preliminary wheel rim 1 among the upper and lower molds M1, M2 and the female mold F disposed around the cylinder-shaped piece 1.

The preliminarily formed wheel rim 1, as released from the molds M1, M2 and F, includes an inboard flange 11 f formed on a lower portion of the piece 1, a deep well 10 and an outer flare portion 12 t protruding outwardly centrifugally from a longitudinal axis X defined at a longitudinal center of the cylinder-shaped piece 1 as being diverged upwardly and outwardly from an upper portion of the piece 1 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

3. Forming a Reinforced Outboard Flange of the Wheel Rim (FIGS. 7˜9):

The outer flare portion 12 t of the prelimary wheel rim (FIG. 6) is further processed by cold working or cold forming by curving (C) the outer flare portion 12 t inwardly centripetally towards the longitudinal axis X of the wheel rim 1 to crimp a free edge portion 121 of the outer flare portion 12 t on an outer bead seat portion 12 s of the outboard flange 12 f (FIG. 7).

The free edge portion 121 is then welded to the outer bead seat portion 12 s of the outboard flange 12 f to form a welding line 121 w between the edge portion 121 and the bead seat portion 12 s to seal an annular interior 12 i confined by the inwardly centripetally curved flare portion 12 t to thereby form a reinforced outboard flange 12 f as shown in FIG. 8.

The outboard flange 12 f is further trimmed such as by machining and further subjected to surface treatment such as electroplating. A disc 13 is then secured in the barrel of the wheel rim 1 as shown in FIG. 9. For enhancing the strength of the wheel rim 1, heat treatment may be applied during the forming procedure of the present invention.

The cold working or cold forming process as used in this invention may include spinning, pressing and any other cold working processes, not limited in the present invention.

The circular plate 1 p may also be substituted with other shapes of plates, which may be trimmed after being released from the die D.

Besides the molds M1, M2 and F as shown in FIG. 5, other cold working machines or methods may also be utilized for forming the inboard flange 11 f and outboard flange 12 f in the present invention, being not limited.

Since the outboard flange 12 f has its free edge (or free end) portion 121 welded to the bead seat portion 12 s along a “welding line” 121 w between the edge portion 121 of the outer flare portion 12 t and the bead seat portion 12 s of the outboard flange 12 f, the outboard flange 12 f is then strongly reinforced for enhancing the strength of the outboard flange. And the annular interior 12 i confined in the curved flare portion 12 t has been sealed by the welding line 121 w to preclude the penetration of any corrosive liquid into the interior 12 i so as to prevent from being corroded during electroplating, anodizing or any other surface treatment processes for a well protection of the wheel rim.

Therefore, the present invention produces a seamless alloy (or aluminum alloy) wheel rim having reinforced outboard flange to be superior to the prior arts.

A second preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 10˜15 and described as hereinafter.

The second process for making a seamless alloy wheel rim of the present invention comprises the steps of:

1. Forming a Shallow Cylinder-Shaped Piece by Deep Drawing (FIGS. 10˜12):

As shown in FIG. 10, a circular plate (preferably of aluminum alloy) 1 p is deep drawn by a deep-drawing die D, having a cylindrical cavity M1 and an upper flared port M2 flared upwardly outwardly from the cylindrical cavity M1, by applying pressure P on the circular plate 1 p to form a shallow cylinder-shaped piece 1 c having a closed bottom portion 1 b and an upper (or outer) flare portion 12 t on an upper portion of the piece 1 c (FIG. 11) when released from the die D (FIG. 10).

The closed bottom portion 1 b is punched out to form an annular bottom flange 1 h as shown in FIG. 12, defining a central bottom opening through the bottom flange 1 h.

2. Forming an Outboard Flange Member having Reinforced Outboard Flange (FIGS. 13˜14):

The upper or outer flare portion 12 t is processed by cold working or cold forming by curving (C) the outer flare portion 12 t inwardly centripetally towards the longitudinal axis X defined at a longitudinal center of the outboard flange member 1 f and the wheel rim 100 of the present invention to crimp a free edge (or free end) portion 121 of the flare portion 12 t on an outer bead seat portion 12 s adjacent to the outboard flange 12 f (from FIG. 12 to FIG. 13).

The free edge portion 121 is then welded to the outer bead seat portion 12 s of the outboard flange 12 f to form a welding line 121 w between the free edge portion 121 and the outer bead seat portion 12 s to seal an annular interior 12 i confined by the inwardly centripetally curved flare portion 12 t to thereby form a reinforced outboard flange 12 f as shown in FIG. 14.

3. Forming a Wheel Rim Body Containing an Inboard Flange:

By using the similar deep drawing process as shown in FIGS. 10˜12, a wheel rim body 1 m containing an inboard flange 11 f and an intermediate annular flange 12 m opposite to the inboard flange 11 f (FIG. 15) is formed.

4. Fastening the Outboard Flange Member with the Wheel Rim Body Containing the Inboard Flange in Combination with a Wheel Disc to Form the Wheel Rim (FIG. 15):

As shown in FIG. 15, the outboard flange member If containing the outboard flange 12 f is further trimmed such as by machining or further subjected to surface treatment such as electroplating.

Then the outboard flange member if containing the outboard flange 12 f is fastened with the wheel rim body 1 m having an inboard flange 11 f and deep well 10 preformed therein, in combination with a wheel disc 13 by bolts 14 inserted through the bottom flange 1 h of the outboard flange member 1 f, the disc 13, and the annular flange 12 m of the wheel rim body 1 m, thereby combinably forming a “three-piece” wheel rim 100 of the present invention (FIG. 15).

The wheel rim body 1 m may also be preformed by any other forming processes, not limited in the present invention.

The third preferred embodiment of the present invention (as shown in FIGS. 16˜21) for making a seamless alloy (preferably of aluminum alloy) wheel rim comprises the steps of:

1. Forming a Hollow Cylinder Piece:

As shown in FIG. 16, a hollow cylinder piece 1 is formed or preformed by extrusion or other methods having opposite ends 11, 12 opened.

For example, a pipe having diameter adapted for making the wheel rim is extruded by an extrusion process, and the extruded pipe is then cut into a plurality of sections, each section having a length generally equal to a length of a wheel rim in accordance with the present invention.

Since the aluminum alloy can be well extruded by an extrusion process, the aluminum alloy is thus especially recommendable for making the wheel rim in accordance with the present invention.

2. Forming a Preliminary Wheel Rim having an Inboard Flange and an Outer Flare Portion (FIGS. 16˜17):

The cylinder piece 1 is inserted into a mold cavity within the female mold F as shown in FIG. 17. An upper male mold (or upper punch) M1 and a lower male mold (or lower punch) M2 are respectively inserted into an upper hollow portion and a lower hollow portion of the cylinder piece 1 to cold form a preliminary wheel rim 1 among the upper and lower molds M1, M2 and the female mold F disposed around the cylinder piece 1.

The preliminarily formed wheel rim 1, as released from the molds M1, M2 and F, includes an inboard flange 11 f formed on a lower portion of the piece 1, a deep well 10 and an outer flare portion 12 t protruding outwardly centrifugally from a longitudinal axis X defined at a longitudinal center of the cylinder piece 1 as being diverged upwardly and outwardly from an upper portion of the piece 1 as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18.

3. Forming a Reinforced Outboard Flange of the Wheel Rim (FIGS. 19˜21):

The outer flare portion 12 t of the prelimary wheel rim (FIG. 18) is further processed by cold working or cold forming by curving (C) the outer flare portion 12 t inwardly centripetally towards the longitudinal axis X of the wheel rim 1 to crimp a free edge portion 121 of the outer flare portion 12 t on an outer bead seat portion 12 s of the outboard flange 12 f (FIG. 19).

The free edge portion 121 is then welded to the outer bead seat portion 12 s of the outboard flange 12 f to form a welding line 121 w between the edge portion 121 and the bead seat portion 12 s to seal an annular interior 12 i confined by the inwardly centripetally curved flare portion 12 t to thereby form a reinforced outboard flange 12 f as shown in FIG. 20.

The outboard flange 12 f is further trimmed such as by machining and further subjected to surface treatment such as electroplating. A disc 13 is then secured in the barrel of the wheel rim 1 as shown in FIG. 21. For enhancing the strength of the wheel rim 1, heat treatment may be applied in the forming procedure of the present invention.

The cylinder piece 1 (as shown in FIG. 16) may also be further formed as an outerboard flange member and an inboard flange member and the outboard flange member is further processed for forming the reinforced outboard flange 12 f. Then, a three piece wheel rim can be obtained in accordance with the steps as described in the aforementioned second example.

The present invention may be further modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 

1. A process for making a seamless alloy wheel rim comprising the steps of: A. Forming a cylinder-shaped piece by deep drawing and cutting a closed bottom portion of the cylinder-shaped piece to form a first peripheral portion and a second peripheral portion respectively disposed on opposite end portions of said cylinder-shaped piece, said second peripheral portion formed by punching out said closed bottom portion of said cylinder-shaped piece; B. Forming a preliminary wheel rim from said cylinder-shaped piece having an outer flare portion protruding outwardly flaredly from said second peripheral portion of said cylinder-shaped piece and diverging centrifugally from a longitudinal axis defined at a longitudinal center of said cylinder-shaped piece and said preliminary wheel rim, an inboard flange formed on said first peripheral portion of said cylinder-shaped piece opposite to said outer flare portion, and a deep well formed in an intermediate portion in said cylinder-shaped piece between said outer flare portion and said inboard flange; and C. Forming a reinforced outboard flange on said preliminary wheel rim by curving said outer flare portion inwardly centripetally towards said longitudinal axis of said prelimary wheel rim to crimp a free edge portion of said outer flare portion on an outer bead seat portion of said preliminary wheel rim, and welding said free edge portion of said outer flare portion to said outer bead seat portion for forming a welding line between said free edge portion of said outer flare portion and said outer bead seat portion of said preliminary wheel rim to seal an annular interior confined by said outer flare portion as curved inwardly centripetally to be crimped on said outer bead seat portion to form a reinforced outboard flange, opposite to said inboard flange, on said preliminary wheel rim, which is further trimmed and subjected to surface treatment to form a seamless alloy wheel rim.
 2. A process according to claim 1, wherein said seamless alloy wheel rim is made of aluminum alloy.
 3. A process according to claim 1, wherein said step for forming said preliminary wheel rim is performed by inserting said cylinder-shaped piece in a female mold disposed around said cylinder-shaped piece, an upper male mold inserted in an upper hollow portion in said cylinder-shaped piece, and a lower male mold inserted in a lower hollow portion of said cylinder-shaped piece to form said prelimary wheel rim having said inboard flange, said outer flare portion on opposite end portions of said preliminary wheel rim, and said deep well in an intermediate portion of said preliminary wheel rim.
 4. A process according to claim 1, wherein said outer flare portion is curved inwardly centripetally to form said outboard flange by cold working or cold forming.
 5. A process according to claim 1, wherein said cylinder-shaped piece is formed by deep drawing a circular plate in a deep-drawing die to form said closed bottom portion on said bottom portion of said cylinder-shaped piece.
 6. A process for making a seamless aluminum alloy wheel rim comprising the steps of: A. Forming a shallow cylinder-shaped piece by deep drawing, having an outer flare portion formed on an upper portion of said cylinder-shaped piece and an annular bottom flange formed on a bottom portion of said cylinder-shaped piece; B. Forming an outboard flange member by curving said outer flare portion inwardly centripetally towards a longitudinal axis defined at a longitudinal center of said shallow cylinder-shaped piece to crimp a free edge portion of said outer flare portion on an outer bead seat portion of said shallow cylinder-shaped piece, and welding the free edge portion to said outer bead seat portion to form a welding line between the free edge portion and the outer bead seat portion to form a reinforced outboard flange on an outer portion of said shallow cylinder-shaped piece, to thereby form an outboard flange member having said annular flange formed on a bottom portion of said outboard flange member; and C. Forming a wheel rim body containing an inboard flange and an intermediate annular flange opposite to said inboard flange; and D. Fastening said annular bottom flange of said outboard flange member with said intermediate annular flange of said wheel rim body in combination with a disc for forming a three-piece wheel rim including said outboard flange member having said reinforced outboard flange formed thereon, said disc, and said wheel rim body having said inboard flange formed thereon.
 7. A process according to claim 6, wherein said shallow cylinder-shaped piece is formed by deep drawing a plate in a deep-drawing die having a cylindrical cavity formed in said die and an upper flared port flared upwardly outwardly from the cylindrical cavity, whereby upon releasing of said shallow cylinder-shaped piece from said die, an outer flared portion, as corresponding to said upper flared port, is formed on an upper portion of said shallow cylinder-shaped piece.
 8. A process for making a seamless aluminum alloy wheel rim comprising the steps of: A. Forming a hollow cylinder piece; B. Forming a preliminary wheel rim from said cylinder piece having an outer flare portion protruding outwardly flaredly from said second peripheral portion of said cylinder-shaped piece and diverging centrifugally from a longitudinal axis defined at a longitudinal center of said cylinder-shaped piece and said preliminary wheel rim, an inboard flange formed on said first peripheral portion of said cylinder-shaped piece opposite to said outer flare portion, and a deep well formed in an intermediate portion in said cylinder-shaped piece between said outer flare portion and said inboard flange; and C. Forming a reinforced outboard flange on said preliminary wheel rim by curving said outer flare portion inwardly centripetally towards said longitudinal center of said prelimary wheel rim to crimp a free edge portion of said outer flare portion on an outer bead seat portion of said preliminary wheel rim, and welding said free edge portion of said outer flare portion to said outer bead seat portion for forming a welding line between said free edge portion of said outer flare portion and said outer bead seat portion of said preliminary wheel rim to seal an annular interior confined by said outer flare portion as curved inwardly centripetally to be crimped on said outer bead seat portion to form a reinforced outboard flange, opposite to said inboard flange, on said preliminary wheel rim, which is further trimmed and subjected to surface treatment to form a seamless alloy wheel rim.
 9. A process according to claim 8, wherein said step for forming said preliminary wheel rim is performed by inserting said cylinder-shaped piece in a female mold disposed around said cylinder-shaped piece, an upper male mold inserted in an upper hollow portion in said cylinder-shaped piece, and a lower male mold inserted in a lower hollow portion of said cylinder-shaped piece to form said prelimary wheel rim having said inboard flange, said outer flare portion on opposite end portions of said preliminary wheel rim, and said deep well in an intermediate portion of said preliminary wheel rim.
 10. A process according to claim 8, wherein said outer flare portion is curved inwardly centripetally to form said outboard flange by cold working or cold forming.
 11. A process according to claim 8 comprising the steps of: A. Forming said hollow cylinder piece; B. Forming said hollow cylinder piece as an outboard flange member and an inboard flange member; said outboard flange member having an outer flare portion formed on an upper portion thereof; C. Curving said outer flare portion of said outboard flange member inwardly centripetally towards a longitudinal axis defined at a longitudinal center of said outboard flange member to crimp a free edge portion of said outer flare portion on an outer bead seat portion of said outboard flange member, and welding the free edge portion to said outer bead seat portion to form a welding line between the free edge portion and the outer bead seat portion to form a reinforced outboard flange on an outer portion of said outboard flange member; and D. Fastening said outboard flange member with said inboard flange member in combination with a disc for forming a three-piece wheel rim including said outboard flange member having said reinforced outboard flange formed thereon, said disc, and said inboard flange member. 